ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN

The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest INSIDEOUT

AN INTIMATE SOUNDSCAPE PROVIDES A CANVAS FOR HER LYRICS.

Dutch singer weaves beauty from personal turmoil.

For a singer whose voice is so distinctive and recognisable, Anneke van Giersbergen remains one of the great chameleons of the progressive world. In 2017, the former The Gathering singer was dishing out the heaviness with her prog metal band VUUR, which was followed by two albums that saw her singing with classical orchestras, 2018’s Symphonized and 2020’s Let The Light In.

With The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest, she undertakes another metamorphosis, turning away from both orchestras and metal, and moving closer to the gentle vibe of her 2009 Agua de Annique release, Pure Air. There are no electric instruments here at all; instead the sound draws deeply from folk and smaller classical formats with strings, acoustic guitar, percussion, and horns. It’s not the full, grandiose sweep of a symphony orchestra, but a more intimate soundscape that provides an entirely fitting canvas for van Giersbergen’s boldly confessional lyrics. The album was apparently born out of a period of turbulence in the singer’s life, from the financial uncertainties of recording and touring the VUUR album, to doubts about the future of her marriage. Retreating to a house in the forest near Eindhoven, she’s channelled the turmoil into her writing.

The record reunites van Giersbergen with Gijs Coolen, who produced her 2013 rock album Drive, and the music manages to span a range of moods and emotions while staying true to the overriding aesthetic and sound. Some of the lyrics could fit into VUUR’s prog metal as van Giersbergen writes about looking into the abyss in Hurricane, and even without conventional drums, there’s still a strong sense of pulse and forward momentum in the track.

I Saw A Car begins playfully as van Giersbergen admires an elegant ride, but soon turns darker as she sings, ‘I rely on my fear alone, get by on my pain.’ There’s a folky stomp to the tune, akin to Mumford & Sons perhaps, but far less twee.

The song reveals one of the album’s main themes, the troubling prospect of divorce, further explored in My Promise, in which she defiantly insists she’ll fight for her marriage, while The End is a plea for renewal and a second chance.

It’s almost a break-up album, but van Giersbergen never gives in to despair and there is optimism among the heartache. ‘You’re not alone’ she sings in Lo And Behold and the album concludes with the uplifting energy of Love You Like I Love You, a reaffirmation of her enduring devotion accompanied by a buoyant string arrangement. The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest is a brave, soul-baring experience from one of prog’s best voices.